Technicalities & Moral Conundrums

Plastic Free Challenge: Entry 2

I have been (mostly) successfully following a plastic free lifestyle for the last 3 days. Though that may not seem like a long time, it has had a huge impact on my personal definitions of “need” and “want”. Refusing the use of all single use plastics isn’t just about asking for paper bags at the grocery store. It impacts all of the little choices that I make everyday.

• I have become a reluctant vegetarian. Meat is not necessary to live, and it almost always comes in plastic, so I don’t make extra efforts to seek it out.
• I’m eating mostly fruits and vegetables. The easiest things to buy without packaging are fruits, vegetables, and bread.
• I drink water from the tap. I usually don’t drink soda, coffee, or any packaged drinks anyway, but the occasional treat is now something not even considered. And that time I forgot my refillable water bottle…
• It’s ok to be a little hungry. Every meal in my life is now planned. If I forget to bring food or if I get hungry in the middle of the day there’s usually not so many choices, and it’s definitely not acceptable to get something from the vending machine, so I just wait to eat until I get home.
• A simplified beauty and hygiene routine. Almost everything for the bathroom comes in plastic. I’m still using the products that I had before, but I’m making the switch to bar soap and eliminating purchasing any makeup products.
• Shopping local. I made the mistake of purchasing something on Amazon and it arrived in a plastic bubble envelope.

Am I doing this right?

So far, most of my interaction has been with the things that we buy daily: food and drink. As I prepare for the coming weeks in my challenge, I am still trying to figure out how to get some of the longer term consumables that we need to live a comfortable life. Where can I get toilet paper that’s not wrapped in plastic? What do I do about feminine hygiene? What do I line my trash can with? (Paper bags don’t work… tried that.) What about my toothbrush, toothpaste, and dental floss? Even if non-plastic alternatives to these things exist, can I access them? Do they work? Will it impact my health?

What about the businesses and organizations that I go to? If a restaurant buys their food packaged in plastic, is it my responsibility to ask and refuse to be their customer if they do? What if I go to the doctor and need a bandage or injection?

And maybe most importantly, is the time and energy that it takes me to make these changes worth it? We all have busy lives, how do we make the time to put forth the additional effort needed to make these things happen?

“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions doing it imperfectly” — Anne-Marie Bonneau, Zero Waste Chef

The reality is that most of us will not make lifestyle changes until we are forced to. Until our societies make it convenient to live plastic free, or we have to do it for our necessity of survival, we will not accept the inconveniences and make the sacrifices that we need to to live a life this way. But this isn’t meant to be melodramatic, it’s a challenge. Can we overcome our nature to do the right thing for societies, cultures, and environment? I think we can.